Turku 1000
Stop 47 of 50
2011

European Capital of Culture

In 2011 Turku was one of Europe’s two Capitals of Culture, together with Tallinn. For a whole year the city was full of exhibitions, concerts and events, many of them made by ordinary people. Then came the bill, and a court case.

The 2000s and today · Republic
The big story

European Capital of Culture

Every year the European Union names one or more cities as European Capitals of Culture. In 2011 it was the turn of Turku and of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, just across the Gulf of Finland. Turku used the year to put culture into every part of the city, from big exhibitions to small neighbourhood events.

Turku on Fire

  • Two cities. Turku shared the title of European Capital of Culture 2011 with Tallinn Well documented.
  • The slogan. Turku’s slogan was “Turku on Fire”. It referred both to the many great fires in the city’s history, such as the Great Fire of 1827 (stop 27), and to the energy of the people making the year Well documented.
  • Who ran it. The year was organised by the Turku 2011 Foundation. The chair of its board was Christoffer Taxell Well documented.
  • The start. The year opened in January 2011 Likely.

A year of projects

  • Around 150–160 projects. The European Commission counts 150 cultural projects, while a report by the City of Turku counts 160 Well documented.
  • Close to home. Many projects took place in ordinary neighbourhoods. District weeks were held in 11 parts of Turku, and in 13 the year after. A musical with more than 120 amateur performers sold out all eight shows, and 11 “culture exercise” routes were made in the city’s Central Park Well documented.
  • Helpers. More than 400 volunteers worked on the year’s projects Well documented.
  • A new venue. The main venue was Logomo, an old railway workshop turned into a culture centre (see the second topic) Well documented.

Visitors and verdicts

  • Two million visits. The foundation estimated about two million visits during the year. A survey found that about 500,000 Finns aged 15–79 went to at least one event, on average about four times Well documented.
  • Mostly happy. Of those who took part, 87% thought the year was very or fairly positive. Among Turku residents, 64% said the city’s atmosphere had improved and 59% felt prouder of their city Well documented.
  • Again? 52% wanted a similar year again, while 24% did not Well documented.

The money

  • Three parts. The state gave 17.3 million euros, the City of Turku 17.8 million, and companies, funds, foundations and the EU about 20.4 million: about 55.5 million euros in all Well documented.
  • The effect. Economists at the University of Turku estimated that the year created about 260 million euros of production and 3,300 person-years of work in the region, most of it through tourism Well documented.
  • A bill afterwards. In 2014 the Ministry of Education and Culture demanded back about 2.17 million euros of state aid. In January 2018 the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the foundation to repay 1,975,705.46 euros, without interest. It was the first time a state had asked a Capital of Culture for money back Well documented.
How do we know?

The culture year was studied unusually closely: there were surveys, an economic study, a final report and in the end a court decision. Some numbers are estimates, such as the two million visits. The sources disagree slightly on the number of projects, and the total budget is our own sum of the three funding figures.

  • State
  • City of Turku
  • Companies, funds, EU and others
  • paid back

about 55.5 million euros

260million euros of production in the region
3,300person-years of work
Where the money for Turku 2011 came from, what the year produced and what was paid back, and what people thought of it.The total budget is our own sum of the three funding sources.
Why it matters

The year brought visitors and money to Turku and gave an old industrial building a new life as Logomo. Many residents took part in their own neighbourhoods. The repayment case is a reminder that public money comes with rules, and that a successful festival still has to account for every euro.

On the lighter side

Logomo, street art and the river banks

Some of the clearest signs of the culture year, and of the years after it, are places: an old railway workshop turned into a culture centre, legal places for graffiti, and the riverside where people in Turku meet on summer evenings.

Logomo

  • A railway workshop. The state railway’s machine workshop next to Turku railway station was built in 1876. It became one of the five main workshops of the state railways and closed in 2003 Well documented.
  • A culture centre. In 2011 it was renovated as the main venue of the culture year. Logomo has 24,000 m² of space, and its first exhibitions included a Tom of Finland retrospective and UEFA’s football exhibition “Only a game?” Well documented.
  • Theatre and TV. Turku City Theatre played at Logomo while its own building was renovated, until autumn 2017. TV shows such as The Voice of Finland have been filmed there, and Finland’s Eurovision selection UMK was held there in 2019, 2022 and 2023 Well documented.
  • Busy. In 2016 Logomo had more than 1,000 events and over 369,000 visitors. Over 70 companies work in its buildings Well documented.
  • A wall and seven containers. Turku has a legal graffiti wall in Kupittaa and seven art containers: old shipping containers placed in parks and squares around the city, from Perno and Runosmäki to Veistämöntori Well documented.
  • The rules. Painting there is free, possible all year round, and needs no permission or booking. There is even a recycling point for empty spray cans Well documented.
  • Murals. Wall paintings, or murals, can also be found around the city, for example in Runosmäki, Varissuo and Pansio Well documented.
  • Since when? Our sources do not say when the wall or the containers were set up Well documented.

Life by the river

  • The Aura. The Aura river is about 70 km long. It flows for just under 9 km through Turku and is about 50 metres wide on average Well documented.
  • Bridges. Ten or eleven bridges cross the river in Turku, depending on the source. The oldest still standing, Auransilta, is from 1904, and the newest, the pedestrian bridge Kirjastosilta, is from 2013 Well documented.
  • Lights and terraces. A lighting project started in 1997 gave the river banks their evening look. Läntinen Rantakatu is a pedestrian street, and about 20 restaurant ships line the banks, with their decks used as summer terraces Well documented.
  • Föri. Since 1904 the little ferry Föri has carried people across the river near its mouth. It is free, takes up to 75 passengers and has run on electricity since 2017 Well documented.
Logomo from railway workshop to culture centre, a container you can paint yourself, and the Föri ferry through the years.The pictures are simple drawings, not to scale. The container paint is only on your screen.
How do we know?

Logomo’s history comes from an encyclopedia article and a city report on the railway yard. The rules for the graffiti wall and art containers come from the city’s own service pages. For the river we used encyclopedia articles, which disagree on the number of bridges. We did not find when legal graffiti began in Turku or who painted the murals.

Why it matters

Turku keeps reusing its old places: a railway workshop becomes a stage, shipping containers become canvases, and a ferry from 1903 still carries people every day. The river banks, once used for ships and work, are now where the city goes out.

Sources and further reading

  1. European Commission: Tallinn and Turku, Capitals of Culture 2011 — the slogan “Turku on Fire” and the programme.
  2. City of Turku research report 1/2013 on the culture year — 160 projects, volunteers and district weeks (in Finnish).
  3. Yle: the final report of the Turku 2011 Foundation — funding from the state, the city and others (in Finnish).
  4. Yle: visits and the survey of January 2012 on how Finns saw the culture year (in Finnish).
  5. Yle: the economic effect of the culture year (University of Turku School of Economics, 2012) (in Finnish).
  6. City of Turku: Turku 2011 Foundation required to pay back disputed government aid (25 Jan 2018).
  7. Logomo — the railway workshop of 1876, the culture centre of 2011 and its later uses.
  8. City of Turku: survey of the railway yard’s cultural environment (2017) — the workshop from 1876 to its closure in 2003 (in Finnish).
  9. Suomi.fi: art containers and graffiti wall, City of Turku — places, rules and addresses.
  10. Hoods: a mural trip around Turku — murals in Runosmäki, Varissuo, Pansio and elsewhere.
  11. Föri — the river ferry built in 1903, its engines, the crossing and the ice bridge.
  12. Visit Turku: Föri city ferry — free to ride since 1904.
  13. Aurajoki — the river in the city, its bridges, restaurant ships, lighting and events (in Finnish).
  14. Turku — Capital of Culture with Tallinn, and the bridges over the Aura.

Spotted a mistake? Know more?

This site is open and free. Corrections and additions are welcome — every page lists its sources so you can check them.